Unicode symbol lookup
What would you like?
like to have the ability to look up Unicode symbols that are less common, like IPA extensions musical symbols or symbols that are used in other languages or even kaomoji/emoticons.
Why it would help
for work as a teacher, I often have to use Unicode symbols that are less common, like musical symbols or IPA symbols. It would be really helpful to have the ability to find these symbols really quickly without having to go look it up in a separate app.
App settings
Languages: en (active: en) Full Access: on LAB: Scrollable suggestions on, Period instead of space on, Smooth suggestions off, Link cleaner on Dictation: speech device, translate off, offered yes, API key no Settings changed on this phone (104): activeLanguageItem=custom apiModel=gemini-3.1-pro apiProvider=gemini appColorScheme=dark backspaceHoldWordsImmediately=on barMenuGlyph=icon barMenuHidden=custom barMenuOnRight=on barMenuOrder=custom barMenuSwipeHideEnabled=on barToolChipBackground=on boldKeyText=on commaKeyChar=, commaKeyEnabled=on comma_actions_custom=[language,settings,emoji] comma_longpress_mode=symbols comma_symbols_custom=custom (5) currencyKey=✪ cursorSensitivityH=3 cursorSensitivityV=20 customAccent=#5C5C5C customColorsEnabled=off customGlassBackground=off customThemes=custom domainsEverywhere=off emojiBarEnabled=off emojiBarMode=off emojiKeyEnabled=off emojiPanelOrder=frequent emojiSuggestionsEnabled=off emoji_bar_custom=custom (10) emphasizeKeySymbols=on enabledLanguages=[en] engineV2Multiword=on engineV2MultiwordLive=on extendedAccents=on flickDownSymbolsEnabled=on functionKeyMarksEnabled=on gestureDisabled=custom gestureKeyMap=custom hapticIntensity=1 hapticSharpness=0.42 hintsOnlyWhileTyping=off icloudSyncAPIKey=on icloudSyncSettings=on icloudSyncWords=on keyAffordanceIconsEnabled=on keyLabelScale=1.05 keyPressAnimationEnabled=on keyPressAnimationSpeed=slower keyPressAnimationStyle=jump keyShadowEnabled=on keyShadowStyle=crisp keySoundEnabled=on keyboardHeightScale=1 keyboardSetupCustom=custom keyboardSetupCustomSavedAt=0 keyboardSkin=efkey languageCodeAutoHide=off languageCodeNever=on languageExtraKeys=off languageItems=custom languageKeyEnabled=off languagePairs=[] lastAIAction=custom linkCleanerEnabled=on longPressDelay=0.15 longPressHintsMode=all multilanguageEnabled=off nativeExactColors=off nativeReturnKeyColor=on numberRowEnabled=off oneKeyboardSize=off page123_longpress_mode= periodKeyChar=. periodKeyEnabled=on punctuation_grid_custom=custom (6) scrollableSuggestionsEnabled=on shiftCycleFirstLetterOnly=on shortcutsExpandCollisions=on singleActiveLanguage=on smartDashes=off spaceLanguageSwipeEnabled=off spaceMicEnabled=off spaceSwipeAIAction=custom spaceSwipeDownAction=hide spaceSwipeHideEnabled=on spaceSwipeTranslateEnabled=on stockSymbolLayout=off straightApostrophes=on straightQuotes=on suggestionFramingEnabled=on swipeBoundaryIntensity=1 swipeTickIntensity=0.40 swipeToTypeEnabled=on swipeTrailColor=#9FFDFF swipeTrailColorDark=#FFFACC swipeTrailCustomColor=on swipeTrailStyle=flame symbolsPeekEnabled=on themeMode=dark translateMode=device translateTargetLang=es widerLetterKeys=on
Discussion
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@johnsonjcolton in 2.2.2, the next App Store update, emoji search can also find symbols by their English name: "schwa" gives ə, "clef" 𝄞, "sharp" ♯, "primary stress" ˈ. There's also a ^_^ tab in the emoji panel with kaomoji, and search finds those too, e.g. "shrug" for
¯\_(ツ)_/¯. It's off by default, turn it on in EF › LAB › Symbols and kaomoji in emoji.On the emoji screen you cannot scroll left and right when you finger is placed on an empty space between the emojis. This is especially noticeable in the kaomoji section. Maybe related to #B679 ?
This is true for the emoji search results bar as well
@muleluku same cause in the results bar, plus one more: the results there are buttons, and a resting finger kept the touch on the button instead of the scroll. Fixed for build 475 and 2.2.2 as well, the results bar now scrolls from anywhere too.
Would it make sense to add a recently/most use kaomoji list at the beginning of the kaomoji section?
Should the unicode and (kaomoji) search be localized like emojis are?
Does it make sense to also have a panel for a selection of unicode symbols?
Could the recently used unicode symbols also be made accessible somehow?
@muleluku I moved these ideas, plus the recent kaomoji one, into a separate suggestion so they don't get lost here: #S691 (recents for kaomoji and symbols, localized search, a symbols panel).
@muleluku the empty space in the emoji panel was fully transparent, so iOS handed those touches to the app underneath and only the emoji and kaomoji themselves caught them. Resting your finger before a swipe also started the skin tone hold and blocked scrolling. Fixed for build 475 and 2.2.2 on the App Store: the panel now scrolls from anywhere, and this is probably what was behind #B679 too.